‘Whether the Weather is Fine’ (Kun Maupay Man It Panahon)

“Whether the Weather is Fine”

“Whether the Weather is Fine” (Kun Maupay Man It Panahon)

(We are running this guide to help you plan your holiday movie-viewing activity during the pandemic. The 47th Metro Manila Film Festival, or MMFF, runs from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7, 2022.)

Directed by Carlo Francisco Manatad; stars Charo Santos-Concio, Daniel Padilla, Rans Rifol; produced by iWant, Quantum Films, Blacksheep, Dreamscape Entertainment, Globe Studios, Cinematografica, Plan C, House on Fire, AAND, KawanKawan.

Determined to flee to the big city after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) ravages a coastal town, Miguel (Padilla) searches for his mother Norma (Concio) and his girlfriend Andrea (Rifol) before another storm approaches.

The film took seven years to make, according to one of its producers, Joji Alonso. It has been invited to over 10 international film festivals and has won two important awards in Europe (best director for Manatad and best film from a new filmmaker). “We are hoping that these awards will help boost the film’s box-office performance. We’re also hoping that it will win some more international awards,” Alonso declares.

The film is shot in Waray and with a budget of over P65 million. “We are grateful to all those who helped Carlo make this film as a tribute to Tacloban City when it was ravaged by Supertyphoon ‘Yolanda’ in 2013,” Alonso adds.

“She’s my boss so I treated her like a precious gem. I really tried to take care of her,” says Padilla of his costar Concio, who is also a former president of broadcast network ABS-CBN. “Unlike me, Ma’am Charo isn’t from Samar and doesn’t know how to speak Waray; but how she studied the dialect so that she would be able to effectively portray her character was what made her awesome.”

—Marinel Cruz